Objective: To determine, using echocardiographs, if young adults exposed in uterus to Ritodrine have long-term cardiovascular effects.
Study design: Retrospective follow-up study. Young adults between the ages of 22- and 26-years-old. Young adults (n=19) exposed in uterus to Ritodrine and age-matched controls (n=27) were studied by means of transthoracic echocardiography. All participants were born following full-term pregnancies. Subgroups of those subjects exposed to the highest dose of Ritodrine and for the longest period of time were established. A multivariate descriptive statistical analysis of the values obtained using transthoracic echocardiography was performed. Echocardiography measurements in M-mode included intraventricular septum and posterior wall thickness, systolic and diastolic diameter of the left ventricle, septum/wall quotient, left ventricle mass and short and ejection fractions. Doppler pressed: E and A peaks in the mitral valve and isovolumetric relaxation time were determined.
Results: The mass, posterior wall, systolic diameter and the diastolic diameter of the left ventricle were slightly, but not significantly, higher in the Ritodrine group. The E/A peak and the isovolumetric relaxation time were similar in both groups. A negative correlation between the left ventricle mass index and the total Ritodrine dose (r=-0.67; p=0.051) was found; this disappeared in the subgroups exposed to higher doses and for longer times.
Conclusions: The variables studied using echocardiography showed that in uterus exposure to Ritodrine do not have long-term effects on cardiac functionality in young adults.